Author Topic: Would You bite a bullhead (Read 1493 times)

shb · « **on:** April 19, 2003, 05:30:24 PM »

I don't see how a predator fish could enjoy a bullhead lunch. It looks like the bullhead would poke the crap out of them. I know they poke me every time I try to unhook one. Do very many of you guys use them for bait? I tried them last season, and they seemed to work as good as anything else. Their main attraction to me is that they are plentiful and easy to catch. This photo is of a flathead that ate a 9 inch bullhead last fall.

I don't have enough experience to say how good of a bait they are when compared with carp and shad and sunfish and all the other popular live baits. Maybe some of you guys would like to share your experiences with bullheads when used as a big cat bait.

jackmt.retreat · « **Reply #1 on:** April 20, 2003, 05:00:28 AM »

I fish the Shenandoah river here in VA, and we call them mad toms, but I think they are the same thing.They look like baby catfish??We catch the biggest small mouth on these. I've been told buy alot of old timers that they have an abnormally loud heartbeat which the smallies tune in on.
We caught three out of the same hole, 19 inches on 'em.I've also heard some guys call 'em riffle jacks,When we float the river we stop at the shallow ripples, and jump out and turn rock over looking for them.

John · « **Reply #2 on:** April 20, 2003, 06:02:30 AM »

Bullheads get quite a bit larger than the madtoms. The madtom is more a minnow in size. There is a specie of madtom called the stonecat that can rival a bullhead in size. We have madtoms in the clearwater rivers of eastern Oklahoma, we call em catfish minnows, and we use them for smallmouth baits as well.

I've used bullheads on limblines, and except for their ability to live longer on a hook than the perch I normally use, I can't say they are any better bait as far as catching fish is concerned.

Some of the river rats I know say they work better when ya clip the spines off, but I can't say that works any better either. Ain't nobody clippin the spines off em out in the big world for the fish to eat. It might make em a little easier on the fisherman to handle when baitin up the lines, but ya gotta handle em once with the spines on em when ya clip em off anyway.

shb · « **Reply #3 on:** April 20, 2003, 03:54:36 PM »

That is one thing I noticed about them, if they didn't get mashed by big cat in the middle of the night they are always alive and frisky when you check your lines in the morning. That alone is probably good enough reason to use them.

Went to surise fishing services this morn and accidently caught a 31 inch walleye and a 2lb smallmouth on minnow tipped tube jigs. They weren't no big cats but it was still fun to catch and release em in front of the catch and fillet artists I was fishing beside. Any other lucky anglers this weekend?

chubjerker · « **Reply #4 on:** April 21, 2003, 08:42:59 AM »

I watched the new In-Fisherman video "Flatheads, a Day on the River" this weekend and they were using bullheads and catching monsters. Doug Stange said they were his favorite bait, and his word is gospel in my opinion.

shb · « **Reply #5 on:** April 22, 2003, 02:27:45 PM »

You have to work hard, pay attention, observe, and keep on top of those cats until he thinks your word is gospel. He is just a man. If you you love it, and live it ,you too will become a wise one to the young uns coming up behind you. Ideas come from reading, but knowledge and experience come from time on the water, no shortcut for that. And if there are no shortcuts then I guess I will have to go fishing even more than I do Now.

tabbycat · « **Reply #6 on:** January 22, 2004, 05:00:01 AM »

Down here we call them suckers mudcats. They're an ok bait but I've seen nothing yet that would beat a Talapia or Goggleye. I've caught tabbys on dead goggleye before.

Tabbycat Elkins

huntsman · « **Reply #7 on:** January 22, 2004, 06:58:29 AM »

"Mudcats", or bullheads, are the best bait going where I fish in the streams of South Texas. They are big, stay alive much longer on the hook, and seem to attract the big cats better than anything else. I've used them up to a pound in weight. I do clip the fins to make them easier to handle. Out of our little tributary streams I have caught 25-45# flatheads regularly with them.

shb · « **Reply #8 on:** January 23, 2004, 07:02:15 AM »

Hey, Huntsman welcome to the forum.

I've been hog hunting just east of Gonzales tx, have you been fishing over that way?

ihookem · « **Reply #9 on:** February 06, 2004, 04:47:32 PM »

Bullheads are the best bait around here. The reason is cause we catch bullheads out of rivers with current, and they are a tougher fish then. Kind of like a river smallmouth compared to a lake smallmouth. River fish seem to fight harder because they have been swimming in current all their lives. The bluegills we catch are pond gills. They just sit there all day. Therefore bullheads are always making my line vibrate, sometimes even setting off the klicker a bit. A flathead can sense the "vibes" way back in the hole, but the gills just lay on the bottom and play dead.

SeaBass · « **Reply #10 on:** June 08, 2004, 04:41:09 AM »

We don't have any flatheads up here in Vermont. We do have plenty of bullpout/bullhead. Do channel cats feed on bullhead as well? I know flats like live bait. I haven't had much luck with live bait on channel cats though. I've tried live shad against cut shad and cut out perfoms it hands down here.

kevin.303 · « **Reply #11 on:** June 08, 2004, 04:58:05 AM »

yellow bullhead fry up nice if you catch enough, problem is they're all head!! what does this mad tom look like? i live near the red river of the north which is one of the best walleye and channel cat fisheries north of the mason-dixon line and i often catch what looks like a baby channel cat. at first i thought they where bullhead but they have a different shaped head and are gray like a channel. anyone know where i can find pics?